


Codica Alera

by tkayo



Category: Codex Alera - Jim Butcher
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Everything's Better With Lesbians, F/F, Gen, What If It Were Lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 10:43:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21117467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tkayo/pseuds/tkayo
Summary: Gaius Septimus had a daughter, not a son.





	Codica Alera

**Author's Note:**

> which part of 'what if it were lesbians' don't you understand  
dont @ me about the title there's no way to 'properly' do a feminine version of caudex which is where we get codex from im just doing my best alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Furies of Calderon is a shitty name, Farm Boy's Fury is a shitty name and also doesn't work so I'm going with Shepherd's Fury cause fuck it i dont have to get this published and also its better (mass effect fuckers do not interact its not that Shepherd its a literal sheep herd)

> The course of history is determined not by battles, by sieges or usurpations, but by the actions of the individual. The strongest city, the largest army is, at its most basic level, a collection of individuals. Their decisions, their passions, their foolishness, and their dreams shape the years to come. If there is any lesson to be learned from history, it is that all too often the fate of armies, of cities, of entire realms rests upon the actions of one person. In that dire moment of uncertainty, that person’s decision, good or bad, right or wrong, big or small, can unwittingly change the world.
> 
> But history can be quite the slattern. One never knows who that person is, where they might be, or what decision they might make.
> 
> It is almost enough to make me believe in Destiny.
> 
> **FROM THE WRITINGS OF GAIUS PRIMUS FIRST LORD OF ALERA**

“Please, Tavi,” wheedled the girl in the predawn darkness outside the steadholt’s kitchen. “For me?”

“I don’t know,” the other girl said. “There’s so much work today, and you know how my Uncle gets.”

The first girl pouted, throwing an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Ta-vi,” she whined, pressing up against her. “I thought we were friends.”

The second girl muttered awkwardly, acutely aware of their closeness. “I’m not sure…”

She pouted again, brushing hair out of her eyes. “Please?”

The girl knew she was done for - she’d never been able to turn down her friend, especially when she made that face. “All right. I’ll do it.”

* * *

Tavi slipped out of her room, down the stairs, and through the silence of the last shreds of night before dawn. She entered the cavernous shadows of the great hall, noting a faint glow of light in the kitchens beside the great hall. Old Bitte was already up, preparing the kitchens for the day ahead, but the rest of the steadholt was quiet and still as she made her way to the postern door, clutching her cloak close as she unbolted it.

The door opened to reveal her uncle Bernard, leaning casually against the doorway, dressed in leathers and a heavy green cloak. 

Tavi froze, with a flutter of apprehension in her stomach, but quickly pasted on a rueful grin. “What gave me away?”

“Saw you drinking all that water last night,” Bernard rumbled. “Should I ask who taught you that trick?”

“Fade,” Tavi admitted shamelessly. It was an old soldier’s trick, made it easier to get up earlier. The crippled slave may not always be the sharpest, but he still remembered a few things from his soldiering days.

“And if I ask _why _you didn’t bring the flock in last night?”

Tavi rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, making her short black curls bounce with the movement. “...Beritte needed my help with something.”

Bernard sighed. “Tavi-”

“I _know_,” she interrupted. “I know, Uncle Bernard, but I just- I want to be a good friend.”

He considered her silently. “Well,” he said eventually, “we’ll have plenty of time for a long talk about what exactly that means.”

“We?” Tavi asked, deliberately ignoring the second half of the sentence. 

The slight flicker of her uncle’s lips told her she hadn’t gotten away with it unnoticed. “If you don’t want my help…”

“No, no,” Tavi said hurriedly, realising her mistake

“You sure?” Bernard said gravely. “If you want to prove you can do it alone, go right ahead without me.”

“_Uncle_,” Tavi groaned.

Bernard chuckled, pulling his niece into a one-armed hug and ruffling her hair. “We better get started, if you want to bring them back in before the other Steadholders arrive.”

Tavi’s eyes widened. “Oh- _Furies!_” she cursed, before turning wheedling eyes to Bernard. “I don’t suppose Brutus would be able to track them down?”

“He could,” Bernard acknowledged. “I want you to do it, though.”

Tavi sighed. “I knew you were going to say that.”

* * *

They were a half-hour out from Bernardholt when her uncle finally spoke. “I’m disappointed in you, Tav.”

Bernard was the only one who ever called her that - Tavi was a strange enough name that no-one else seemed to find any need to abbreviate it, but she didn’t mind when Bernard did it. Normally, at any rate- right now, the nickname and words hit harder than any threat of punishment could have.

“...I know,” she said miserably. “I’m sorry.”

“I know,” Bernard echoed back at her. “But sorry won’t save a sheep from having her throat torn out, or balance the steadholts books, or keep up relations with the other steadholders. Not for me, and _especially _not for you.”

It wasn’t new information to Tavi, but it stung nevertheless. She wasn’t naive to think it hadn’t cost Bernard anything, treating her like she had. Even out here, where women often had to step up to the ‘men’s work’, he should have been training up one of the other boys at the hold. Instead, he’d treated her like she was his own son, letting her learn to work with the herds, agreeing to help her start out on her own. She was fairly certain it had made his path to full Citizenship more difficult - on top of everything else, the only way for a woman to be a citizen was by the strength of her furycrafting.

And Tavi had none.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tavi can get away with being a brat even less than in canon, so her relationship with Bernard is a little less tense. also bernard stays hydrated with Women Respecting Juice available wherever good characters are sold.  
yeah her name's just Octavia, i dont remember if there was canonically a first lady who actually was in charge but its my city now so There's No Rule That Says A Dog Can't Play Basketball/Be The First Lord

**Author's Note:**

> updates whenever i feel like it sorry  



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